The following story was recently sent to me by Ian Shaw. He told me that he had lost track of a relative by the name of Eli Shaw. This is what he said-
It wasn’t until I started looking outside Victoria that Eli Shaw again appeared, this time hunting for gold on the Eastern Goldfields in Western Australia. I’m pretty certain he served as a Councillor over there, perhaps in Boulder, and I think, too, that a small park or rotunda was named after him as he was a keen bandsman. It may be, though, that he had a son he named Eli and that I am confusing two people to make a single character. Either way, Eli Shaw had a son he named George Duncan Shaw who really has many claims to fame. A Kalgoorlie boy, he joined the army when he turned twenty one as his parents would not let him join beforehand and was, I believe, the last Australian evacuated from Gallipoli when the Allies withdrew.
On that last night, George – a lieutenant – was in charge of the most forward position in the Australian lines, at Russell’s Top. The evacuation was timed to the minute but proceeded so well that the final movements were brought forward by ten minutes. Unfortunately, no one told George and the three privates who accompanied him. As the other Australians were marching back to the beach, George and his soldiers prepared a meal to leave behind for the Turks and manned the single machine gun which was all that stood between 50,000 Turkish soldiers and the beach. The four men withdrew according to the schedule they had been given and arrived back at the embarkation point just as the last boat was about to pull away. After seeing his men aboard, George also climbed into the boat, and so it was that the last Australian had left Gallipoli.
The Evacuation of Gallipoli
Back in Egypt, George described the events in a long letter he wrote to his mother. I believe it may have been reprinted in the Kalgoorlie Miner, and I’m pretty certain it was also printed in at least one Perth newspaper. It was/is a wonderful letter and, after the war, the new ABC radio station in Perth turned it into a short radio play and invited George to play himself when it was broadcast. George survived the war as something of a hero, being decorated for bravery and rising through the ranks to captain.
Officers of the 10th Battalion visit the Sakkara Pyramids. Back row, left to right: Captain (Capt) George D Shaw; Major Frederick William Hurcombe VD, who later commanded the 50th Battalion; Captain Ross Blyth Jacob. Front row: Chaplain Colonel John Claude McPhee; Lieutenant Felix Gordon Giles DSO.
After the war, George returned to Kalgoorlie where he married his childhood sweetheart Lucy Doherty. The couple moved to Perth where his wife had a baby son they named Bobby. Unfortunately, she died when the child was still a baby. I don’t think George ever remarried, but he did develop an interest in poultry, becoming one of the state’s biggest poultry farmers and adviser to the State government on poultry matters (no pun intended). He lived into the 1970s and bequeathed most of his substantial assets to the University of Western Australia. Relatives, I think, donated his papers, including the Gallipoli letter, to Australian institutions. The originals are at the Australian War Memorial while the National Library of Australia has copies of all the material. I have seen it all and thoroughly enjoyed learning more about a relative I never knew I had.
Moya Sharp
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What a fantastic piece of history, Moya! Thanks so much for sharing. I particularly liked the idea of our boys leaving a meal for the Turks. A recent holiday in Turkey found Australians held in very high regard throughout the country. Apparently, Australians were among the first to go back and develop the accommodation/tourism industry there.